The World Wide Web (“WWW”) has generated a significant following resulting from the ability of individuals to access, via ISP's, a wide spectrum of information made available over the internet by independent and unrelated content providers. The internet is provided by governmental interests at no cost. (The WWW consists of independent domains, or websites, containing web pages comprised of hypertext objects which can be retrieved by users having computer access to the internet.) A November-December 2007 survey conducted by the Pew Institute indicates that 74% of Americans use the internet. More than 160 million web sites exist as of March 2007, according to the Network Web Server Survey
Access to the wealth of information on the WWW is limited, however, to those with access to a computer, or PDA or the like, at the time. There is yet a need to make a spectrum of independently managed and supplied information also available to people without access to a computer or the like, at least at the moment, but with access to a phone. There is a need to provide such information to people who prefer access by phone. This system preferably entails, basically, securing audio information from a variety of individuals, e.g. entrepreneurs, businesses or other sources, indexing the information and making the information available over phone lines.
The instant invention addresses the problem of providing an audio-based information utility similar to the internet which is accessible by users having access to telephone but having no computer access to the internet. The instant invention solves the problem by providing an audio based information system comprising a computer based host accessible by telephony connection, supporting multiple indexed recorded audio information segments supplied by multiple independent subscribers. Further, the problem of managing audio content and customized navigation from multiple independent subscribers is solved by a system comprising a computer based host accessible by telephony connection allowing subscribers to supply audio content for that subscriber's audio domain, including by telephony instruction.
The instant invention began with the concept of audio networking. The theory was to deliver information using the telephone as a distributor. What was first needed was a telephone system that would pull from a database. An initial design feature of applicant's system, however, was not to require a host to secure the information from individual suppliers and input the information into a telephone system, nor to simply link callers to the phone numbers of suppliers of information. Rather, a preferred design feature of the instant invention was to allow the information content suppliers to have control over their information, inputting themselves to an audio network maintained by a host computer, and subsequently editing, adding, modifying or deleting the information stored therein.
In original concept the project envisioned further optional modules:                Outgoing calling        Ask and Answer Questions—designed so that individuals could ask questions and get answers from other individuals        New Members—useable with a base platform.        Calendar—a calendar platform created to call individual extensions as they had upcoming events.        Possibly access the web and read directly from a website.        
The instant technology is designed to offer extensive audio information to anyone with a telephone and access to the network through an 1-800 number or the like. The technology would further provide the ability to modify or change available information by the information provider itself, referred to as a subscriber. The subscribers, plus advertisers, would support the system financially.
Features of the invention could optionally include:                Ask and Answer Questions to retrieve and receive information;        Address Book;        Allowing existing World Wide Web customers to subscribe and operate on the platform;        Search Engine—to work only on proprietary platform;        Conference Calling;        Off-line advertisement—a caller will hear an advertisement based on the advertisement entry point. When an advertisement is purchased, four forms of advertisement entry point would be offered:                    a. randomly picked advertisement;            b. a caller-net advertisement which only content providers of the system would hear, such as advertisements offering Caller Net designs or promoting co-sponsors of the system;            c. Tags—which is a location within the network;            d. based on a criteria or a subject of the advertisement only to play based on a caller criteria.                        
A Net-Page feature would be a reserved space on a host server for registered users (who could or could not be subscribers), a host-supplied domain that can be located or reached by navigation, with a telephone keypad and/or via an interactive voice network. The “Net-Page” itself could include a series of links that are made available by audio. The Net Page feature would be similar in structure to a website, so that it could be thought of as a homepage with links to subtopic pages. Instead of clicking on a website link with a mouse to go to a subtopic page, a listener could press one of the numbers on a telephone key pad, for instance, to go to a subtopic page. One key difference would be that while a website is visual, a Net-Page is aural.
A Real-Time Net feature, as a type of Net-Page,. could potentially provide a business's customers with telephone access to details of the business, on demand, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Customers would not need a television, radio or computer to learn about the business, nor need to know the business phone number. Customers could retrieve business information when they needed it by dialing into the host computer, navigating to the particular Real-Time Net domain or page and listening to prerecorded messages by streaming audio. A business could translate an entire website to a voice Net-Page presented by audio. Alternately, a business could create a unique audio Net-Page presented by streaming audio to announce weekly sales, events, location, hours of operation, etc. A business could further record a radio or television ad onto a link. The business owner determines the content of the Net-Page and changes the content as often as desired. The service would preferably be free to customers.